Dark Recognition
by banish177
Summary: Naruto must struggle with something he once dreamed of. Recognition. With an old foe returning to power and troubles between villages, the peace he fought for seems to be dwindling. He will have to train a new team to combat the darkness. Naruino
1. Troubled times

How's it going. Names Banish, thanks for being interested in my story. Hope you enjoy this first chapter, but it might be kinda boring.

Recognition: Chapter 1

Troubled times

_ Two figures stood some fifty feet away from each other, surrounded by bodies of deceased shinobi. The stench of war filled the air as the stared at each other, neither moving, as if sizing up one another. Suddenly, the long silence was broken, and the battle began._

_ "Well, well, well! What do we have here! My old teammate. It seems that it is time for our fight."The black haired man yelled, chuckling with a deranged look etched onto his face._

"_It would seem that way Sasuke. It's finally time to end this. Time to end the violence. Madara and Kabuto are dead. All that stands in the way of peace is you my friend." Replied the opposite man, blonde hair shining as he smiled. The stayed there, staring at each for what seemed an eternity other before rushing forward. The fourth shinobi world war was drawing to a close._

The sky was seemingly engulfed in despair and anger as it shook from the force of the thunder and rain. Wind blew harshly through the trees of Konoha, ripping leaves from their branches. Seemingly void of life, the city of Konoha looked like a ghost town. The vast storm above them forced most living things into the shelter of their homes or shops. Yet, there stood one. He stood quietly, allowing the rain to coat his body in a cold embrace. He stared vacantly at a large stone, eyes glued to the many markings littering the boulders face. One could sense the pain seemingly radiating from him, even if it was almost 3 years ago, the memory still clung desperately to his heart. The thought of their final moments. Her scream. His laugh. Both of them had died that day. He watched the one he loved die at the hands of the one she loved. He watched helpless as his steel blade… He couldn't even think about that moment. The pure anguish and rage that it brought him. His fist's clenched, desperately trying to keep himself calm. He slowly relaxed, sighing deeply. He stared at her engraved name. _'Haruno Sakura'. _He closed his eyes, holding back the tear that had been welling up for hours.

Behind the blonde man, stood another figure hidden in the trees. She kept herself hidden not wanting to disturb the man in front of her. She studied him, watching him constantly tighten up and relax. She wanted to comfort him, to be a good friend. But this was something that he wanted to overcome alone. She and all of his friends had try to consul him, but he made it blatantly clear he would have none of it. They watched from the light as he stood engulfed in his own shadow. She was shook from her thoughts as she heard a deep sigh coming from the man. He lowered his face and his long blonde hair fell over his eyes, blocking them from view. His body slouched for a moment before he straightened up, and slowly walked away, trudging through the mud that had collected around his feet. She watched him leave, longing to follow him. 'Naruto…' She whispered in her head. But it was her turn to grieve. She had lost her team as well. She emerged from the trees and took his same place, staring at the three names that brought such sadness in her life.

Naruto pulled open the door to his apartment and stumbled inside, desperately trying to escape the freezing rain. He had stayed to long again. He was soaked to the core and shivering. He ripped his clothes off and practically raced into the shower twisting the knob waiting for the hot, steaming water to cascade onto him. He stood for several seconds before he became aware that something was wrong. 'God Dammit' He thought to himself before twisting the knob back and forth repeatedly, hoping for a response. He closed his eyes in annoyance. A minute later he was walking down the hall of his apartment complex frustration evident in his face. He pulled open a door and stared at the man behind the desk.

"Just felt you should know, my waters gone. No tap water at all." He growled at the man, awaiting an answer. The man quickly wiped away a smile that did not go unnoticed by the blonde shinobi.

"My apologies. I'll get someone right on it." He replied, gaze returning to the book that he held.

"Could you do it soon? Or maybe now?" Naruto growled in response, his small amount of patience evaporating.

"Mhm… I'll get right on it." He grunted in response, not looking up from his book. Naruto was done. In an instant he was on the man, lifting the pathetic sack of flesh off the ground. Fear grasped the landlord, as the demon's eyes turned red with anger. Naruto would've liked nothing more than to tear the man's throat out, but he would never harm a citizen of Konoha. He quickly calmed himself and let the man fall back the ground, stumbling as he went.

"Sorry… I lost my temper." He said sincerely, offering the shaken man his hand. The man slapped the hand away and backed against the wall.

"You've crossed the line demon! Get packed and leave my complex! You're out of control!" The man yelled, pointing a shaking figure at the blond.

"You've gotta be shitting me. After everything I've done, I'm still the demon. Unbelievable. You know what? Fuck it. I'm gone." He growled before storming from the office. He ran up the stairs slamming the door behind him. He quickly packed his few belongings into a seal and stuffed it into his backpack. Then he was gone. He left the small apartment for ever. He had once been on reasonably good terms with the landlord, but after the last war like many villagers, their opinions of him turned back to what they were when he was nothing but a child. Perhaps 40 percent of the village thought that he was a hero. The rest believed that he was the cause of the war. Which is true in a sense, but Naruto could do nothing about it. He saved them, and this is what he got in return. He rushed past a crowd that had gathered around the complex. Somewhere in the middle he heard a familiar voice.

"- and then the demon threw me against the wall! I may have broken my wrist!..." Naruto didn't bother to listen to the rest of his 'story'. He jumped onto the roof tops and began to leap away from them. His thoughts were jumbled with anger as he moved from roof to roof. 'The hell should I do now? Where do I go from here?' He thought to himself. The anger slowly disappeared, only to be replaced with despair. The heat of the moment was gone, and Naruto remembered how cold he was. He shivered, thinking desperately of somewhere to go.

Ino walked slowly through the streets of Konoha. The rain had subsided for now, and People were slowly returning to their posts. She noticed a small crowd of villagers who seemed quite upset and were pretty fumed about something. She approached the group cautiously, listening to their speeches.

"Damn Kyubi brat!"

"He's causing so much trouble!"

"It makes me sick!"

"I cant Believe Naruto-sama would do such a thing!"

"Don't call him Naruto-sama! He's the plague of our village."

"Did you see him? He took off Across the roof tops towards the monument."

Ino immediately took off, thoughts racing through her mind. 'What happened? Did he hurt someone?' She wondered, heading in the direction they had said. She leapt from building top to building top, eyes scanning the alleys and streets for any sign of the sage. Her mind raced for his possible location. 'Of course. He would always go their.' She smiled at her "brilliance" and jumped down to the street. Dashing around a few corners she came upon is favorite place. She quickly pushed the curtains away, to find the old man and his daughter standing behind the counter. Not another soul was present. They looked up from their tasks with an odd look on their face.

"Can I help you miss?" Asked the man.

"Have you seen Naruto? Did he stop here recently?" She blurted out, breathing heavily.

"No, he hasn't… Whats wrong? Did something happen?" Questioned the girl, worry spreading across her features.

"He was kicked out of his apartment" Responded another voice, right behind Ino. She spun around to find Blue eyes staring at her. "Hey Ino." He greeted moving past her, sitting at the counter. "Three please." He said, smiling at the two behind the bar. He gestured for Ino to sit next to him. She hesitated slightly, before sitting down. He smiled warmly and they waited in silence for the food. When it came he handed one to her and devoured the other two. She couldn't help but chuckle quietly as she too began to eat. Once they had finished, Naruto thanked the cooks for the meals and left. Ino quickly followed, racing to catch up to her fellow ninja.

"Naruto! Wait!" She called, grabbing his shoulder.

"What do you want Ino." He said quietly, stopping but not bothering to look at her. She suddenly felt a little unsure. She was surprised how cold he was being.

"Well… um… I know that you were kicked out, so you obviously need a place to stay. I offer my residence for a temporary solution." She stated, finishing the sentence rather quickly. Naruto stopped.

"You've never done anything nice for me before, why now?" He whispered, looking at the ground. Ino too looked at the ground, hurt by his blatant words.

"Well, I can't leave a friend out in the cold. Please take up my offer." She responded, looking back up with determination in her eyes. He stayed quiet for a moment before sighing.

"Fine. Thanks Ino." He replied, giving her a small smile.

"No problem. I'll think up a way for you to repay me." She said, sticking her tongue out at him. She then grabbed his arm, pulling him down the street towards her home.

"God dammit Shizune… How can there possibly be soo much paperwork to do…" Grumbled a slightly buzzed Godaime Hokage.

"Don't worry Tsunade-sama, all there is left are the new team captains. Then were done for the week." Her assistant replied smiling. "And, as a present, I already did all of them except for one. Make any changes you deem fit." She stated, placing the piece of paper in front of the Hokage. Tsunade read over the list nodding in approvement for each name. Then she reached 7. She pondered on who to place in charge of this odd team. 'The dead last, top of the class and one of the most intelligent. It worked for them in the beginning… Why not now?' She thought, making up her mind. She scribbled in a name and handed it to her assistant.

"… Do you think He'll be alright with this? He hasn't been his old self since." Shizune whispered, staring at the paper.

"He needs something to work on. Its worth a shot I think." Tsunade replied, rubbing her face.

"He's a bit young though. He's only just turned 19." She commented, staring at her teacher

"I suppose, but he's as ready and qualified as anyone else." She asserted, meeting her apprentices eyes.

"Well, there's no argument there. I'll put my faith into him like always." Shizune conceded, sighing. Tsunade smiled and nodded.

"Well, here we are. Make yourself at home. But don't mess it up to much." She said, smiling.

"It's really nice Ino. Much better than my old place. You really know how to live" He joked, admiring the large home. She looked down, feeling slightly ashamed, but shook it off.

"Thanks… My mother sold the shop to buy me this house. We were too busy since father died to keep it running while doing missions." He explained, while her expression darkened slightly at the painful memories. Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her.

"Its beautiful. Now, where's the couch." He laughed, looking around. Ino merely scoffed.

"I'm a Yamanaka. You'll be sleeping in the guest room. Right over here Naruto." She explained, gesturing towards a door on the other side of the hall. "This is where you can sleep, I'm right across if you get scared." She joked, sticking her tongue at him again. He rolled his eyes and entered the room.

"Thanks Ino. It's really nice what you're doing for me." He said, before closing the door. She smiled and retreated to her own room.

"You're welcome."

Deep in the wilderness of the land of Iron, a freezing wind blew through its snowy mountain ranges, sending chills up a man's neck. He tugged his cloak close around his body and stepped through a large open cave mouth. He continued through the damp darkness, following the twisting rock into the cave's bowels. Slowly, a light appeared in the darkness. Upon closer examination, a door appeared in-between two torches. He approached the doors and pulled them open. He slipped inside a dimly lit room, with a lone figure sitting, hidden by darkness.

"My lord, our spy in Konoha reports that Uzamaki will be instated as a team-captain. This may prove tricky for our future goals." The man reported, kneeling before the dark figure. He heard no response so he continued speaking. "Our informant in the cloud has learned that Bee will be making a solo trek into the iron for personal business. This might be the time. He is scheduled to leave at the end of the month." He revealed, hoping to get some kind of response. His eyes widened when a weak chuckle was emitted by the darkness.

"Good. Soon the time will come. Soon, after so many setbacks, I will have another shot to regain power. Soon, I will become a god." The figure cackled, rising unsteadily to his feet. His eyes would soon need replacing.

Hope you enjoyed, I had fun writing it. Hopefully the next chapter will be more interesting for those of you who found this kinda dull. Review if you would, tell me what I could do better, or tell me how awesome I am. See you next time -Banish


	2. Chapter 2: Responsibility

Dark Recognition: Chapter 2

_ The day after the end of the fourth great ninja war: The hokage summit _

_ "So we all agree? Everyone is accepting of these terms?" Questioned the Raikage, looking around the room at his fellow kage's._

_ "I believe so. This will bring peace and fairness to all villages, not letting one more powerful than the other." Replied the Mizukage._

_ "Yes. Now that the Kyubi is no longer present, and the hachibi is completely subdued and drained of its power, no tailed monster will ever be used as a weapon again." Responded the Kazekage. The others merely nodded their acceptance. Tsunade was very optimistic. Now that there were no real tailed beasts, no village would be better than the others. Absolute power and control could never be obtained since Naruto had "killed" The Kyubi. Each village was on great terms with the others, with new trading being set up and more ninja-exchange training trips made everyone happy. But still, things could always falter. Peace is never absolute._ 'hopefully, I'll be out of this job by then.' _The godaime hokage thought too herself, before focusing on the tasks at hand._

Tsunade sipped lightly on her hot tea. Her hangover wasn't all that bad today. Her thoughts quickly turned to the new teams being formed. _'Should be interesting to see his reaction.'_ She thought to herself. She chuckled, imagining his priceless expression when he found out he was a captain. He hadn't done much sense saving the village for the second time. Times were peaceful for a change. _'Yet still, they hate him. After all he's done for them, they cant stand to look at him. Even though his prisoner is no longer…'_

"Tsunade-sama, It's time to head to the academy." Her assistant interrupted. Tsunade sighed and nodded. Without the fox, the people have nothing to fear. They know the fox is no longer in him, she had made a public statement on how he had saved them all by sacrificing the fox. Yet they hate him. _'Fear is a habit I suppose.' _

"Fine, lets go. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible." She ordered, rising to her feet.

Naruto blinked as the sun invaded the room, light pouring in from the window. He yawned and stretched, momentarily confused about his current location. _'Ino's place… Ah. Now I remember. Got kicked out.' _He thought to himself, the events of the past day reappeared. He sighed and pulled himself off the couch. He overslept. It was nearly 8 as he wandered through her house, looking for the kitchen. Thankfully, it was a day off so he could relax and not worry about anything today. His confused wandering ended when he heard the whine of a tea kettle coming from a room to his left. He stepped quietly through the doorway to reveal Ino wearing a tank top and some short shorts. She failed to notice him, as she poured tea into two mugs.

"Uh, morning Ino." He greeted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh! Morning Naruto… Um, would you like some tea?" She asked, holding out one of the mugs. He smiled and took the cup, raising the cup to his lips and testing the temperature. He took a sip and smiled.

"Its delicious, thanks Ino. Especially for letting me crash here for the night. It's really nice of you." He explained smiling at the girl.

"No problem. It's the least I can do for a friend." She replied returning the smile.

Naruto was about to say something more, but was interrupted by a loud knock at her door. She groaned, mumbling something about 'too early' and dragged herself out of the kitchen, heading for the front door. Naruto couldn't make out any of the words shared. Instead, he returned to the couch and drank the soothing hot tea. A few moments later, Ino returned looking flustered and slightly annoyed.

"-Stupid old lady. Changing everyone's schedule. Ridiculous… Oh, hey Naruto." She grumbled, pacing through the room.

"Uh, who was it? Did baa-chan do something?" He asked.

"Yup. She moved the god-damn team assignment's up to today. They were planned to be next week. There's goes my entire weekend. And, to top it all off, were supposed to meet our teams in half an hour." She fumed, her pacing quickening.

"Sucks for you then." He chuckled, sipping at his tea.

"Good try. She wants you to report to room 7 of the academy. Sucks." She taunted, alleviating some of her frustration. He coughed some tea back into the cup.

"Bullshit! For what? Its my day off!" He groaned, rising to his feet.

"Don't know, don't care." She replied, walking out of the room. "Better get ready, we'll have to leave soon." She called from the next room. Naruto rubbed his face and sighed. His first day off in weeks and Baa-chan has to mess it up. Twenty minutes later, the two blondes were walking through the gates of the academy. Ino said goodbye before walking towards a group of kids, who he assumed were the years graduates. By the kids he saw Iruka-sensei and a few other jounin who he only new from missions. He pushed through the doors and walked down the familiar halls of the academy. He continued on until he found the right room. He slid open the door and stepped inside.

"Ah. There you are Naruto. Took you long enough. I will not have you end up like Kakashi. Is that clear?" Came a voice that he instantly recognized.

"Fine Tsunade-sama. Can't blame me though, this is interrupting my free time." He replied, staring at the older woman.

"Yeah yeah. This is important. I've called you here to take up some new responsibilities…" She began, but was interrupted, as Naruto had noticed the three other figures present.

"Wait…Who are these kids... What responsibility?" Then something clicked.

"Well, Naruto… Hey! Don't you dare walk out of this room!" she yelled, jumping to her feet. Naruto only quickened his pace as he made a desperate attempt for the door. Tsunade made to grab him, but stopped when she noticed movement to her right. From behind a desk one of the figures flung several shuriken towards the sage. The weapons flew around the man, circle ling him. In a matter of seconds the sage was bound by wire. He struggled against the binds, desperately trying to escape.

"Hmpf. Any real jounin could dodge that. Is really supposed to be our sensei Hokage-sama?" Complained a figure to the left of the assailant. The other figure to the right of the wire user nodded in agreement.

"Look again Aika." Replied the kid, who had released the wires. Where the blonds sage once struggled was a log. The two other students gaped at the log, while the wire-kid turned to Tsunade.

"Should we go after him?" He asked, turning to go out the door.

"Oh there's no need for that, Tadashi." She replied, turning towards the desk. In one fluid movement, she destroyed the wood with a monstrous kick. Splinters of wood littered the room, revealing a hunched over man, looking quite annoyed. "Get up Naruto. You know you won't be able to escape this. Besides, I'm sure you were getting bored with no big missions." She ordered, not waiting for him to get up himself. She hoisted the man up by his collar and slapped him on the shoulder. "Now get to know the new team 7." She finished before walking out of the room. The door slid shut with a soft click, leaving the new 'team' alone. They stood staring at each other, waiting for something to happen.

"Well? Wanna introduce yourself?" The only one Naruto didn't know said. He had heard the names of the other two, but not this one yet.

"Fine fine. I'm Uzamaki Naruto. Now all of you." The sage replied, gesturing towards the three kids. They hesitated, before the girl came forward.

"I'm Sasaki Aika." She stated. Then the wire-kid took his turn.

"Ito Tadashi." He answered, looking at the last one. The other kid hesitated momentarily, before stepping forward.

"Sakamoto Nori." He revealed, looking at the blonde jounin. Naruto nodded and stared at the kids. Nori had short brown hair that spiked up in the front with dark brown eyes to go with his eyes. He was taller than the other two, and seemed like a pretty upbeat person. Aika had near shoulder length black hair, with bright blue eyes. She was very slender, something they would have to work on. His gaze fell upon the last, Ito Tadashi. He knew this one from around the village. The top of the year, although this wasn't the strongest of years, Nori was still well known between the jounins and chunins. He was apparently a ninja gear genius, which Naruto could tell was quite accurate. Tadashi had blonde hair that fell to eye level and spiked up in some places. It resembled his childhood hair in a way, but less spiked and a little longer. He was a little scrawny and could use some bulking up, but he knew that he was surprisingly strong from experience.

"Well, that's enough for today. Meet me at 7 tomorrow on top of the roof. Make sure you don't eat anything." He smiled begrudgingly and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Ino stood in front of three obnoxious boys. She had spent half and hour prying Takezo, Mugen and Jotaro away from each other, before FORCING them apart with a simple wind jutsu and some wire. They were currently hanging from the roof, slowly spinning in circles.

"Right. Listen up maggots. From now on, I'm your sensei whether you like it or not. Now we can do this the easy way and become a good team through friendship and understanding, or I can whip you into shape. Literally. Your choice. I'll give you the night to think about it. Meet back here at 7 am tomorrow." She ordered, throwing one more menacing look their way before disappearing, leaving the struggling kids hanging with a shocked and angry face on their face. A block away she was walking, rubbing her face in annoyance.

"My first team is a bunch of idiotic boys who know nothing of teamwork. Fantastic. Not one voice of reason between them." She mumbled angrily to herself as she walked through the streets of Konoha, heading for her place. 'Wonder how Naruto is faring with his team. It was nice of her to tell me before hand, now I have someone to complain to and share the misery.' She thought to herself while chuckling. The sun had begun to set, and most people had retired from the streets. The few souls that lingered gave her odd looks as she passed. _'Odd… What's up with these people. Half of them are looking at me like there was something wrong with me… Is there? Is my hair messed up? Something on my face? What's going on?' _She wondered, her pace quickening. She could feel the gazes and glances boring into her as she shuffled through the dark dirt road. A women walking in front of her pulled her child into a alley on the sight of Ino. Her confusion and panic grew as a group of men threw glances at her while whispering to each other. She began to jog, wanting to desperately get away from the eyes. While passing the group of men she could make out a couple words.

"…came…same house… demon" The rest was lost as she fled. Upon reaching her place, she quickly ran to the door and pulled it open. She slammed it shut and locked it. Her breathing returned to normal, and her shaking stopped. She made to go to the kitchen, but screamed when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. She screamed and gave the assailant a backhand to the temple. He cursed and stumbled backward, tripping over a coffee table and plummeting into it, shattering the glass.

"Dammit Ino! The hell was that about?" The blonde haired figure yelled, rubbing his head.

"Oh god! Naruto! I'm sorry! I thought you were a villager!" She apologized, reaching down to help the man from the glass.

"Don't worry about it… Wait, why would you think I was a villager?" He questioned, rising out of the shards of glass and dusting himself off.

"Well, there was something weird about them. They were all staring at me and giving me these nasty glares and seemingly talking about me behind my back…" She explained, visibly shaken.

"Did you catch what they were saying?" He asked, looking morbid.

"I could only catch a few of the words. I didn't linger long you see. Something about a house and demon. It didn't make much sense." She responded, staring at the blonde sage. The sage lowered his face, staring at the ground in silence. "What is it Naruto? Do you know what its…" Then something clicked in Ino's mind.

"It's all my fault… It's my fault the villagers see you like this now. I should have thought about the repercussions. Im sorry Ino." He whispered, not raising his head.

"No Naruto, its not your fault. You needed somewhere to go. What type of friend would I be if I had left you in the dirt?" Ino reasoned, placing a hand on his shoulder. He brushed it off.

"No. It's all wrong. Everything is wrong. Why must everything be so messed up? I've saved their lives many a time, and yet they shun me and everyone I'm with. I've given up everything. My closest friend, my senseis, and the girl I loved… All so that they could spit in my face and call me a demon. I should've died with them. I should be gone right now. Yet here I am." His face was contorted in rage as his feelings flowed from him. His shoulders shook with regret as Ino could merely wait for him to stop his outburst.

"I know what you feel Naruto. I lost my team as well. I loved every one of them. But their gone, with a part of me as well. And yet, I could never fully understand the pain you have weathered in your life. People shouldn't have to live such painful lives. Yet here you are. You've weathered every single storm that has been thrown at you." Her hand tightened on his shoulder, desperately attempting to comfort the blonde man.

"Ino… Please leave me be. I need to think." He whispered, gaze returning to the floor.

"Fine, but you're staying here." She ordered, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance. He seemingly tried to resist, but upon seeing her face, he backed down.

"Fine. But tomorrow, I won't be staying here. And If I so much as see someone hurting you, they will die." He growled, eyes flashing red with anger. She tried to say something, but her words never made it out of her mouth. He walked past her and crashed into the couch, eyes locked on the ceiling. She stood frozen for a moment, before finally working up the courage.

"Naruto… There was something in your eyes. It looked like pure rage… I thought the Kyubi was gone…" She whispered.

"It IS. Now drop it, and get some sleep. We need to test the kids in the morning."He responded coldly, not taking his eyes off the ceiling. She grimaced and left the room with a temper. He instantly regretted what he had said.

_**'YOU REGRET IT BECAUSE IT'S NOT TRUE, NARUTO.' **_Growled a deep voice somewhere inside his psyche.


End file.
